Inaugural British Moth Open at Maidenhead Sailing Club
by Jenni Heward-Craig 7 Jul 2014 15:53 BST
6 July 2014
It was a day of contrasts at Maidenhead Sailing Club's Inaugural Moth Open held Sunday on Summerleaze Lake. Nine intrepid Moth sailors travelled from Broxbourne, Hunts and Frampton to join Maidenhead's lone Moth sailor, Simon Hall (847), in a four-race day that promised decent sailing.
The first two races were held concurrent with MSC's normal Sunday programme, meaning not only were the Moths competing amongst themselves, they had to contend with boats ranging from Optimists to Albacores. The sailing was challenging. As well as other boats, the Moth sailors encountered the notoriously fluky Summerleaze winds which switched from SW to NW and back. Toby Cooper (754) sailed the race well, taking first by a large margin from Roger Witts (885), second, and Colin Hall (856), third.
The second race started interestingly. Changing wind direction necessitated changing the course to a figure-eight configuration, then the Moth sailors had to contend with a general recall of the Maidenhead fleet ahead of their start. Unfazed, Gary Tompkins (882) sailed ahead of the fleet, adding a first to his third, while Toby and Roger fought for minor placings – Toby taking second, Roger, third.
After lunch, Summerleaze belonged to the Moths. Another course change, and race three was away. The wind was patchy, with the rotary mark in and out of the wind shadow. Toby, however, made light work of it, gaining his second first of the day. Roger was second, Gary third.
With Toby averaging well on points, his victory at the Open was assured. Not so the minor placings. Racing was tight, but Roger took the last line honours, with Toby second and Colin a very close third.
After all points had been tallied, the Inaugural MSC Moth Open was won by Toby Cooper, with Roger Watts second and Gary Tompkins surviving his last race fifth placing to be placed third overall.
Overall Results:
1st Toby Cooper, 754 (Broxbourne) 4pts
2nd Roger Witts, 885 (Frampton) 5pts
3rd Gary Tompkins, 882 (Hunts) 8pts
4th Colin Hall, 856 (Hunts) 10pts
5th Mark Wiltshire, 872 (Frampton) 16pts
6th Ed Deacon, 808 (Hunts) 17pts
7th Ian Heywood, 871 (Frampton) 17pts
8th Abby Freely, 883 (Hunts) 21pts
9th Simon Hall, 874 (Maidenhead) 26pts